"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
It was a very wet autumn and winter in 2019/20 – especially for me. My new front door, which was installed only 20 months ago, let in floodtides of water every time it rained. During particularly heavy rainstorms, which are common down here on the south coast, I hardly had enough bath-towels to cope. Saturated, and dripping water, they had to be put into a washing up bowl and then into a spin-drier to get rid of the water!
I contacted the service team several times and the ladies fielding the telephone calls were great. I had enormous respect and gratitude for their cheery response, even when my calls became more desperate as the weeks and months went by.
I was tempted to feel helpless, and even resentful, as each visit by the service guys did not resolve the problem. However, I decided that I needed to behold “the perfect man . . . where sinning mortal man appears to mortals.” (Science and Health, page 476). I needed to replace my angry, negative, thoughts about shoddy workmanship with God’s pure thoughts about His sinless, harmonious, and perfect likenesses to Himself who “can do no wrong.” The service team were really trying to help.
“What would Jesus do?” was a question I often asked my Sunday School pupils when they were faced with problems. This helped me a lot. Jesus would not countenance bad working practices, but neither would he condemn a man who was doing his best to help. I needed to welcome each new service chap with expectancy, cheerfulness, and – most importantly – with no sense of judgement. An early thought that came was: “Stand porter at the door of thought!” (Science and Health, page 392). This made me chuckle; my poor door seemed to be what was being challenged! Then I realised that I needed to shut out any negative thoughts about my situation and just let in the Good.
So, when I had to call the service team yet again, I kept my voice light and even cracked a joke about turning into a duck, quack! The lady on the other end of the ‘phone said: “Can you take photographs? Send them now because there is a big meeting going on all about your situation!”
I grabbed my mobile, forgetting it was just an ordinary ‘phone – not connected with the internet and with no way of extracting any images onto an electronic device – and flipped up the lid. The screen broke! No way was I taking any photographs with it, and it was only six months old. (My sister had bought an identical ‘phone at the same time and it is still working).
Sitting back on my heels, wondering what next to do, I actually heard a voice saying: “Use your proper digital camera!” So, I did, and took some photographs of what was happening inside my home. Then I was prompted to go outside and take more photographs and I heard: “Look underneath the door-sill.” Wow! I found lots of broken mortar exposing my home to water ingress. This was quickly put right by marvellous local builders who came out straight away. And the bill for the work was paid for, promptly, by the door installers.
Still the water flooded in when it rained heavily. Another call to the service team brought someone who I immediately connected with because he spent time listening to me and taking photographs. Then he tried the door handle, which is supposed to lock the door into the seals. It was loose; just not connecting. After he adjusted it, I could feel the difference, and that was the end of the problem of water coming in from under the door itself.
However, days later, it was still seeping in from under the skirting board in the corner. When the thought came to pull back the carpet, I saw a big gap between the floorboards and the doorframe. It was very windy that day and I could see and feel the draught blowing into my home. Where wind can get, so can water! I felt prompted to call my builders again who asked me to take photographs and email them. This I did and then I received the comforting news that they can seal the gap with expanding foam which is both water and draught proof. That will end the problem.
All this time I have been practising patience and trust, knowing that all would be resolved perfectly with no sense of judgement, and rejecting the temptation to believe that my problem was being ignored. “God is . . . a very present help in trouble.”(Psalm 46). Socomforting and so true! I have also been knowing that man is honest in everything that he does because he is God’s perfect reflection. And that I needed to: “entertain ‘angels unawares’.” (Science and Health 299). Every time the service team sent someone to try to help, that was an angel!